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THE RIGHT NUMBER
Every now and then out of nowhere you come across
you discover…you find…a story that makes you believe again…
that there is hope for humankind:
A woman…addicted to drugs with a husband who beat her
who knew she was heading for an early grave…
but who also had a baby she loved and desperately wanted to save.
Years ago her mom gave her the number of a counselor
(It was during a time she didn’t care)
but this night she dialed the number…hoping the counselor would be there.
When she heard his voice say “Hello”, she hoped and prayed he would be kind
She said, “Please, sir, can we talk…I have so much on my mind?”
She could feel his smile through the phone as he said, “Sure, that’ll be all right.”
Then she proceeded to tell him her story…and they talked all through the night.
When they finished talking…it was morning…the start of a brand new day
She felt better than she had in a long time…then she said, “Oh, by the way…
You made something difficult for me to talk about…easy, comfortable and fun
You’re pretty good at this counseling thing…if you don’t mind me asking…
how long have you been one?”
“Oh, I am not a counselor.” He said. “When your phone call disturbed my slumber…
and you started talking…immediately I knew you’d dialed the wrong number.”
“I knew you needed someone to talk too…needed someone desperately
and for whatever reason last night…Fate chose that someone to be me.”
Her life didn’t turn around right away…she had a lot of problems in her honeycomb…
but talking to a stranger that night was the first step on her path home.
She loves to think back to that night…
the night her phone call disturbed a stranger’s slumber…
the night the right path to her future…
began with a wrong number.
